The acquisition of major state of the art instrumentation should ideally impact on a wide range of scientists in various disciplines. The University of Pittsburgh proposes herein to equip a core spectroscopic facility to provide the scientific community with the means to utilize circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to further their respective research. These goals will b e realized through the purchase of an AVIV model 62A DS Circular Dichroism spectrometer equipped with state of the art optics, temperature control, syringe pumps, and fluorescence detection. A Macintosh computer interface provides for control of data collection over wavelength, time, or temperature, and allows for facile analyses. A companion high performance AVIV model 14DS UV-Vis Spectrophotometer provides for accurate corresponding absorbance profiles. CD spectroscopy is a highly useful methodology for the determination of protein secondary structure and/or stability. It is non-destructive towards the sample (i.e. samples are fully recovered after spectroscopy) and requires relatively low quantities of purified material (approximately 100 ug). This proposal describes an array of projects which are currently limited by the absence of such an instrument in the Pittsburgh region. Research and educational activities in fields as diverse as molecular pathogenesis of HIV to chemical engineering of enzymes in non-aqueous environments will be significantly impacted by the arrival of a CD spectrometer. The Protein Core facility of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will coordinate the purchase, maintenance and use of the instrument. An advisory committee will determine guidelines for the equitable sharing of this resource which will be open to the scientific community for the advancement of their respective research projects and fields.